I had this happen twice to me. The first time, it did swell a little like yours, but that was it, so I made a starter with it and all was fine. The second time, it didn't swell at all. I made a starter with it and nothing there either. The liquid/yeast just seperated and settled out. No bubbling at all.

I switched to dry yeast and make starters now.

__________________
Jody

"The only thing wrong with doing nothing is you never know when you're finished"

You can see if it will start with a starter. But if it takes more than three days to start fermenting, tread carefully (smell it or taste it or something first) -- it might be wild yeast and bacteria. I made this mistake once and ended up dumping a batch.

Sorry to jump in but wouldn't it be easier and just as economical to double pitch if you need more yeast? I mean, dry yeast is $1 and the time and materials it takes to make a starter would probably out weigh that expense...IMO.

Back to the thread!

I have had this happen to me, and just like the other guys said, I made a starter and things worked just fine.

__________________"So we were slammin' beers in the church parking lot..."

Sorry to jump in but wouldn't it be easier and just as economical to double pitch if you need more yeast? I mean, dry yeast is $1 and the time and materials it takes to make a starter would probably out weigh that expense...IMO.

Back to the thread!

I have had this happen to me, and just like the other guys said, I made a starter and things worked just fine.

It very well could be cheaper. I don't know alot, as I'm one of those Noobs here.
But, here a pack of dry yeast costs $2-$3, 650 ml of water is almost free (unless I dip it out of the lake, then it would be free) and a 1/2 cup of DME cant cost too much, when a 3 lb bag of it costs $11. The time that it takes is insignificant as is the little bit of natural gas it takes to heat it. Besides that by making a starter, then I know for sure even the dry yeast is valid.

__________________
Jody

"The only thing wrong with doing nothing is you never know when you're finished"

I got it figured out why it did not swell up. I just made a starter for this failed smack pack, and when I opened the yeast pack, only one of those internal packs was open, one was still closed. I squeezed and squeezed and I though I got them both.

I should be on track now for a brew day tomorrow, hopefully when my starter takes off.